Category / Front Row Center

synopsis

From director George Clooney, the small idyllic town of Suburbicon is the perfect place for Gardner Lodge (Academy Award® winner Matt Damon*) to make a home. But beneath this tranquil surface lies a disturbing reality, where nothing is as it seems. When a break-in leads to the shocking murder of his wife, Gardner must navigate the town’s underbelly of deceit and violence to protect his family from further harm. Academy Award® winner Julianne Moore** and Oscar Isaac also star in this darkly comedic, suspenseful thriller “full of twists and turns.”***

*Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Good Will Hunting, 1997.
**Best Actress, Still Alice, 2014.
***Marlow Stern, The Daily Beast

review

The last thing I read about this movie before I saw it was not a good review. However, I think it gave me more insight to the movie and led me to renting it.

Loved It! I was even able to reconcile the two seemingly obvious cliche lifestyles and the violence with the norm.

At first, everything seems normal, but at one point – a point of which I am not proud – the violence grabbed me by the head and I could not take my eyes away, eagerly waiting to see what was going to happen next! Wow!

Disturbingly beautiful performances by Damon and Moore.

Hate to sound politically incorrect, but at one point I had a hard time telling one female from another – they all start to look alike; I hate when that happens because it makes it hard to follow a story.

synopsis

“Based on the New York Times bestseller, WONDER tells the inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman. Born with facial differences that, up until now, have prevented him from going to a mainstream school, Auggie becomes the most unlikely of heroes when he enters the local fifth grade. As his family, his new classmates, and the larger community all struggle to find their compassion and acceptance, Auggie’s extraordinary journey will unite them all and prove you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.

review

It has been awhile since I have actually watched this movie. I remembered being engaged by this idyllic-problem(s)-and-their-ease-of-resolution-tale from beginning to end: from a child’s tale to sibling issues to adult challenges – nothing like my family! That is the fairy tale in my head. Seriously, I remember liking it.

I love Julia Roberts. I lust Owen Wilson. I liked the kid because he looked like a mini-Owen.

It remembering the moving doing a good job regarding an overall view and the different challenges being different can present. This is why I liked it the most.

Being different than others, I could identify with Auggie; unlike Auggie, I was not born to stand out.

review

WOW! OMG! WTF!

HOWEVER,

If one watches movies like I do, one has no idea what the movie is about – by the way, the best, honest way to watch any movie. I had seen the previews when they started appearing and I was intrigued by the psychological thriller feeling I got, still knowing nothing of the plot.

I’ll be honest, I smoked some “green” before viewing because I wanted to be all “psychological” too! 😀

😀 A D V E R T I S E M E N T 😀

Green Psychology has been known to relax patients,releasing more insight into a patient’s rai·son d’ê·tre.

Well, I fell asleep, restarted the movie, fell asleep, turned off the movie, and went to sleep. The next day, I woke with good intentions to view before MY psychological appointment at 13:00. At the same time, I was going to redesign a logo while viewing, killing tow birds with one stone. One last thing: mother and father had seen it, but were keeping their lips sealed.

I did not finish the logo.

Every time I tried, my attention kept being drawn to the movie. I kept trying to figure out what the hell was going on. At the same time, I was getting angrier and angrier at the characters: Him: selfishness, dismissiveness; Her: hope, weakness.

But it’s more than that!

I didn’t even have to be pretentious to see the reflection in the mirror for the something else the movie was portraying, and that is where I had to challenge myself to bring meaning. A little reading about the movie’s intended meaning provided that knowledge, but before that the movie ending explained it all to me, but on a higher level. Because I don’t want to spoil anything, my true and honest reaction to this movie is below in black text. You can view it by highlighting it.

If I understood the dialog correctly, he was life, she was hope, there can be no life without hope, the two symbiotic. Out of hope and life is born love…of life. This is what I got out of the movie and the next thing I knew, the floodgates were opened. I have lived a life – in my mind – without love. The movie portrays this cycle – imagine a stage play of emotions.

My research as to the meaning of the movie afterwards, revealed a scenario that I am familiar with. I would have not gone in the direction, it did not appeal to me, it was overplayed, unnecessary. Ironically for me, the movie is proof of one of the movie’s characters motive.

If you are not confused after reading this review, I hope you were intrigued to watch this movie.

synopsis

Roman J. Israel, Esq. is set in the underbelly of the overburdened Los Angeles criminal court system. Denzel Washington stars as a driven, idealistic defense attorney whose life is upended when his mentor, a civil rights icon, dies. When he is recruited to join a firm led by one of the legendary man’s former students – the ambitious lawyer George Pierce (Colin Farrell) – and begins a friendship with a young champion of equal rights (Carmen Ejogo), a turbulent series of events ensue that will put the activism that has defined Roman’s career to the test.

review

I love Denzel, well to be more truthful, my feeling probably originate more from lust. I like to say I have seen every movie of Denzel’s, so there was no question that I have been wanting to see this movie. Another thing going for this movie was the law genre, of which I have always been a big fan since L.A. Law television show, but yet remains unexplained.

I thought Denzel was excellent as Roman J. Israel, Esq. His definitive portrayal of Roman was spectacular. I even identified with his unwillingness to change his processes.

That alone, though, was not enough for me to “like” this movie. The conscientious conflict that Roman creates for himself was obvious, but the movie focused – too much in my opinion – on the inner dilemma, which does not portray well on screen, especially, as I decided Roman seemed a bit autistic – for lack of a better word – with savant capabilities.

My overall impression was that this movie failed to entertain, tedious story telling, leaving me bored and unimpressed.

Ah, I forgot to mention Mr. Farrell, whom I also lust. He was clothed the whole time, and I did not like the character he portrayed, which in itself, represents good acting to me.

When an elite crime squad’s lead detective (Fassbender) investigates the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, he fears an elusive serial killer may be active again. With the help of a brilliant recruit (Ferguson), the cop must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to outwit this unthinkable evil before the next snowfall.

review

I read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and saw the movie, preferring the book. However, the style of the book is what got me started on Norwegian psychological drama. Before watching this movie, I had seen some reviews for it and most claimed it was too slow-moving; I disagree, how fast can life be where it is snowing most of the time?

I base a good movie on how well it holds my attention and let me tell you, mine did not waiver, trying to keep track of the clues to the identity of the killer. The killer’s identity seemed pretty certain, but required confirmation. The only complaint I had was the second – or is it third – plot that is touched upon, developed, but never finished.

One of the things that stood out to me was the Norwegian eyes: most grey in color, and appearing – to me – life fish eyes. The next thing I noticed in the movie was the window motif: windows without curtains, window views, filming through windows. And lastly, the fish motif, most noticeable on one window.

There is a scene where Harry Hole is passed out, obviously from alcohol, in the freezing weather. I find it hard to believe one would not freeze to death overnight, sleeping off a drunk.

synopsis

When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against and evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.

review

Read It (1986). Saw It (1990). Saw It (2017) on February 1, 2918 and it seemed like Groundhog Day, got the best of me one day earlier, as I could not stay awake after a second brownie bite and discovered today, February 2, 2018, that I was rewinding the same three chapter last night until I gave up and went to sleep. I don’t think it was necessarily the brownie’s fault, the movie was quite slow-going and lackluster.

I think had the moviemakers skipped this remake and gone straight to the sequel planned for 2019: It: Chapter Two, where 27 years later, the Losers Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back [1] and the Loser’s Club learns the origin of Pennywise’s evil. Then the moviemakers could exploit the series like Jason’s creators and regale dullard movie audiences with sequel after sequel of attempts to kill him.

synopsis

review

This was to serve as my comedy relief before viewing It next. Too bad it failed. There was so much banter amongst Madea and her peeps that it began to feel like the Tyler Perry Show, starring Tyler Perry, guest starring Tyler Perry and costarring Tyler Perry with special appearance by Tyler Perry. SERIOUSLY! While I do enjoy some banter and insult throwing, this was almost unoriginal and excessive. Not even the plot holds up as a valid reason to tell a story.

synopsis

Before she was Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers…and her true destiny,

review

Well, I’ll be the first to admit that despite the heavy feminist paintbrush on this movie, I did enjoy it for it’s entertainment value. When I see these “epic” comic book character pieces, I am always judging the movies seamlessness with my knowledge of the character, the show on television. From this perspective, there was only one thing that did not jive for me, but worked for the movie.

Another thing that worked for me was the woman that played Diana’s aunt. The look in her eye’s at Diana’s defeat of her captured the hope that Diana represented and was excellent acting.

The best thing about this movie can be found here: Chris Pine revealed. Ooo, la la! While creating this post I discovered that the character Charlie was played by Ewen Bremner, from Trainspotting & Trainspotting 2. I wonder what he looks like naked!

Which leads me to my final good thing about this movie: no extended, excessive love scene between Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman.

The sad realization this movie brought to mind is that oppression has been around since the beginning of the world. Wonder Woman’s naïveté that the war did not end after freeing the enslaved city, was symbolic of the idiocy that surround civilization/government: there are no winners…EVER! So, as I always espouse: why fight?

Finally, if someone can explain how Wonder Woman came to be, please email me. That part is still unclear. Was she modeled out of clay and given life by Zeus as her mother explains? It’s obvious she is the god destroyer. Another thing I want to know, how are Amazon women recreated? Or are they immortal like the gods? Too many questions left unanswered.

synopsis

review

Wow! 1980. The year that most defined my life: I was in my junior year of high school, I had discovered a liking for drugs – pot at the time – and alcohol, and I was bursting out of the closet! This movie was so about the accoutrements that was the background of my life: music, lifestyle and disco(s). Back then I was still indulging female crushes and Olivia Newton-John was a very pretty female at which to look. While Sonny Malone (Michael Beck) was not exactly my cup of tea back then, I was learning that my appreciation of the male body would eventually grow to encompass any human with a penis! 😀

Nine Sisters

Another thing I remember about this movie that fascinated me was the Pan-Pacific Auditorium, pictured on the Nine Sisters album cover Sonny Malone (Michael Beck) had been painting in the movie. I had remembered seeing that building in Los Angeles and had always admired the architecture and location. Sadly, life did not imitate art and the Pan-Pacific would be destroyed in a spectacular fire a decade after the movie’s release.

Pan-Pacific Auditorium courtesy moviefone.com

The movie was cheesy and not by any means a movie of Oscar acclaim, but it was entertaining as hell and was a good story about hope. The fact that it was located in Los Angeles, and focused on such prestigious locations made it that much better and endearing to this young gay boy with the biggest secret in the world, trying to grow up gay in a straight man’s world. For those 96 minutes in the dark, I could be me, I could be free; I could look oogle Michael shamelessly!

Nine Muses Mural courtesy basementrejects.com

I seem to remember hearing something about the mural of the nine muses being painted on a wall in Venice, at the time the movie was released. Then again, having just discovered pot, I would trust my memory. 😀 Lastly, while the song Whenever You’re Away From Me, was not part of the The Great American Songbook – a canon of the most important and influential American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century – it did open another door for me.

So, something made me think of this movie last week, so I searched “xanadu online free,” found a website in some Asian country, and watched it.

The opening credit made the hair on my arms stand up with eager nostalgia and anticipation. By the time “Whenever You’re Away From Me” scene was showing I was balling my eyes out at the thoughts of my innocence and desires to be loved and lack of securing that over 54 years of loneliness. Don’t get me wrong. I have loved and been loved to my satisfaction at least twice in my life; I just never learned to hold on to it.

The latter portions of the movie were fun, but just like the original, held less of my attention. Still, I feel fortunate to have been able to see this movie again.

synopsis

“Michael Keaton delivers the best performance of his career” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone) in this “funny, frenetic…” (Manohla Dargis, The New York Times) film from co-writer director Alejandro G. Iñarrito. When a has-been movie superhero (Keaton) risks everything for Broadway, he faces harsh critics, a deranged alter ego, his estranged daughter (Emma Stone) and a difficult stage star (Edward Norton). Also starring Naomi Watts, and Zach Galifinakis, (Birdman is “audacious, corginal, and bold” (Leonard Maltin, Indiewire.com).

review

I had seen this on DVD previously, after it had been released for general audience viewing in theaters. I think I might have been high, but I distinctly remember falling asleep through it, blaming what I called a vignette-based movie with no connections.

This time I noticed the unedited telling of the story through scene-vignettes, telling a story. I managed to stay awake…and engaged. I truly enjoyed the cinematic artistry. The unediting, played well with the setting of this movie. The performances were gritty and quirky enough to garner praise from the pretentious set, which boosted this movie up.